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It's clear Reggie Wayne remains ready, willing and able to make his preseason debut Saturday when the Indianapolis Colts face the New Orleans Saints (8 p.m., WISH-8) at Lucas Oil Stadium.

All that's missing is a thumb's up from Chuck Pagano.

"I'm expecting you guys to tell me," the veteran receiver said with a grin as reporters pressed around his locker room cubicle following Thursday's practice. "I haven't heard anything.

"Like I told you, I'm in the bullpen, waiting for them to pick up the phone and tell me to come in."

Wayne hasn't appeared in a game since tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee Oct. 20 against Denver. He had appeared in 189 consecutive regular-season games, the longest streak by an active receiver.

Pagano hasn't moved off his non-committal stance regarding whether Wayne will play for the first time against the Saints, or return against the Broncos in the Sept. 7 season opener. Front-line players seldom play, or see very limited exposure, in the preseason finale, which is Thursday at Cincinnati.

Pagano conceded he considers input from a player when determining whether that player is ready to return to the field, but the decision ultimately is made by Pagano and the trainers. They weigh a player's competitive nature versus big-picture issues.

"He wants to be out there in the worst way. He wants to go compete. He wants to be with his brothers out there."

Wayne, 35 and entering his 14th season, has been adamant on preferring his return — and first live contact since the injury — occur during the preseason. That hasn't changed.

"In an ideal world, yeah, go out there and not just to get hit, (but) to see the tempo of a live game," he said. "There's no way to simulate that stuff. The only way to get it is to go out there and do it.

"But as Chuck has told me, '14 years of an NFL career, I'm sure you remember how it is to get tackled.' And he's right. But at the same time, it's just the competitive nature in me. I want to be out there with my teammates, hear the helmets collide, hear the pads hit each other and get a real live game under my belt."

Colts coach Chuck Pagano addressed the death of Montori Hughes' child as well as Reggie Wayne's chances of playing Saturday. (Clark Wade / The Star)

Wayne stressed he's had zero setbacks with his surgically-repaired knee.

"I feel like the Reggie of old, I really do," he said. "Nothing has stopped me from doing what I've wanted to do. There's no routes I can't run. I guess it's more just coach Pagano and the Colts organization. They want to see me healthy in week 1."

Wayne added he's done trying to lobby Pagano for playing time.

"Chuck's been ignoring my texts. Maybe I've used up all of his any-time minutes," he said.

If Wayne could argue one more time in his own behalf, he'd emphasize the value of building offensive cohesion during a preseason game, and providing quarterback Andrew Luck with a full set of options.

"I want to be out there with my teammates," he said. "I want to be out there with T.Y. Hilton and Hakeem Nicks, just to kind of give people a glimpse of what they're going to see. I want to be part of that. I don't want that to be the first time in week 1.

"But if that's the case, then that's the case. I'm just here to serve and do my job."

Call Star reporter Mike Chappell at (317) 444-6830. You can follow him on Twitter at @mchappell51.